There were 15.7 million motor vehicles (excluding tractors, plant and equipment, caravans and trailers) registered in Australia at 31 March 2009 (table 24.27). Almost eight out of every ten vehicles are passenger vehicles. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are the states with the largest number of vehicles with 29%, 26% and 21% of the total vehicle fleet respectively.

The average age of the Australian motor vehicle fleet at 31 March 2009 was 10 years (table 24.28). Tasmania recorded the highest average age (12 years) while New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory recorded the lowest average age (9 years). Of the different vehicle types, campervans had the oldest average age (18 years), while motorcycles recorded the lowest (9 years).

24.28 ESTIMATED AVERAGE AGE OF THE VEHICLE FLEET(a) - 31 March 2009

state/territory of registration

Type of vehicle

NSW

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

Aust.

Passenger vehicles

9.2

10.1

9.3

10.9

9.7

11.5

8.6

9.4

9.7

Campervans

16.7

18.0

14.8

21.7

21.4

20.5

20.2

19.8

18.1

Light commercial vehicles

10.1

11.2

9.8

11.2

10.5

12.6

8.9

9.6

10.4

Light rigid trucks

10.8

11.2

10.2

11.5

11.3

15.3

10.0

10.3

10.9

Heavy rigid trucks

14.0

17.1

13.7

16.7

17.1

16.7

12.6

10.9

15.4

Articulated trucks

10.0

11.2

10.2

10.7

11.7

9.4

12.1

8.4

10.7

Non-freight carrying trucks

12.5

15.6

10.6

15.0

15.8

15.8

13.9

13.0

13.9

Buses

11.3

11.4

10.1

11.8

10.9

14.9

8.4

11.3

11.0

Motor cycles

8.4

9.0

8.2

(b)8.3

9.8

10.0

6.7

8.5

8.7

Total

9.4

10.4

9.5

11.0

10.1

11.9

8.8

9.4

9.9

(a) Excludes plant and equipment, caravans and trailers.

(b) Year of manufacture is not well reported for South Australian motor cycles.

The number of motor vehicles registered at 31 March 2009 represents 720 registrations per 1,000 people (graph 24.29). In 2009, the rate was highest for Western Australia - 822 registrations per 1,000 people.

(a) Weight that a vessel can carry, including cargo, bunkers, water and stores.

(b) Measure of the internal capacity of a ship (in tonnes) that is available within the hull and enclosed spaces for cargo, stores, passenger and crew.

Source: Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

24.31 registered aircraft(a) - at 31 December

Shipping fleet

The Australian trading fleet consists of cargo vessels owned and/or operated by Australian companies to and from Australia. The fleet includes vessels that carry cargo and passengers, but does not include vessels that carry passengers only. This fleet decreased from 107 ships in 2005 to 94 ships in 2008 (table 24.30). Deadweight tonnes has fallen from 3.3 million tonnes in 2005 to 2.7 million tonnes in 2008. Gross tonnage fell from 2.5 million tonnes in 2005 to 2.1 million tonnes in 2008.

Aircraft fleet

There were 13,459 aircraft in the Australian Civil Aircraft Register at 31 December 2008, including 10,364 aeroplanes, 1,619 helicopters and 338 balloons (graph 24.31).

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